Flame
by child of fire and night
Summary: Hiei's not falling madly in love with people. Kurama is... Kurama. Kuwabara is still well, stupid and the rest, well you get the idea. The team is set on a mission to two people conected with a Demon who has captured Yukina. Nothing goes according to plan
1. So, it begins

"DETECTIVE!" yelled Hiei, instantly grabbing the teen's full attention. "Take Yukina and get her out of here." He stood alone in front of five lizard-like demons as his sister, Yukina, and Yusuke, the spirit Detective, looked on in horror from the old stone doorway. What started out as a simple rescue mission was now a race against time as the castle threatened to fall apart around them.

"I am NOT leaving you here, stupid!" Yusuke screamed over the stone crashing from the ceiling.

"Hn" Hiei disappeared causing Yusuke to curse as the sound of metal and stone was heard above the doorway a moment before it collapsed. The two of them were in the hallway which was now eerily quiet as they faced the newly made stone wall. _What the hell does he think he's doing!? There's no way he can get out of here alive….._His hand clenched and the boy almost growled in frustration yet, after all this time as a spirit detective he actually kept his cool. After a second of contemplation, he turned his attention to the now trembling ice apparition.

"Hiei will meet up with us later "he whispered "Let's get out of here" Grabbing the girl by the hand he raced out of the castle.

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Hiei glanced at the pile of rubble behind him, at least his sister would be safe……… "GET HIM!" growled the demon to his right. In a flash he turned, unsheathed the blade and followed the stroke through slashing through the demon's torso who, in turn, gave a blood curdling scream. Enraged by the fall of there alley the remaining four demons charged the fire demon. Hiei seemed to become nothing more than a black blur, dodging and slashing with his katana as each of the demons fell to his superior speed, until the floor once again quaked, voicing its current instability. He stumbled and almost fell, loosing the grip on his weapon in the commotion.

"BEHIND YOU!" screamed an unfamiliar female voice. Without the time to think he whipped around only to be greeted by a searing pain in his shoulder, a sixth demon was grinning at him from about ten feet away. Looking down he grimaced, the hilt of a knife was protruding from his left shoulder, while the blade was buried deep beneath his skin. Dodging the stones, that were now falling freely from the ceiling, he scooped up his Katana and prepared to attack.

"What the…." Hiei's eyes slipped out of focus as he struggled just to stay on his feet. All of a sudden his Knees gave way causing the demon's smile to broaden as he pulled another knife from his sleeve and prepared to throw it at the weakened fire demon. From his angle all he could see was a pair of small black boots landing in front of him as he lost his hold on consciousness.


	2. here's the girl

The cell was dark, damp and seemingly empty except for a small teenage girl huddled in the far corner, shivering against the cold stone. Though for some reason she seemed eerily calm in her captivity. She was wearing a pair of old baggy jeans and beat-up ankle high boots, her long blond hair cascaded down her matching black tank top as her emerald green eyes pierced through the shadows.

_Her small feet padding lightly on the pavement the girl was heading to the convenience store. Taking her usual route, she turned down an alley that was more or less a straight shot to her destination. She was sporting a new bruise on her arm but, it wasn't like the occurrence was anything new, Sera couldn't keep herself out of trouble if she tried. _

_Her day had been a little mote than stressful and she had lost her self in her own little world. She was so wound up in her own thoughts in fact that she didn't even notice the man behind her until it was already too late. "Damn it..." she whispered as she felt the cold metal of a knife graze her throat. _

"Watch your mouth little girl." He chuckled in a voice that made Sera's hair stand on end but, a little bit of a scare tactic wouldn't hinder Sera's irrational temper even in the most dire situations.

"Make me" she spat.

"If you insist sweetheart" the voice purred in her ear. There was a sharp pain on the back of her skull and everything went black. 

The blonde's stomach rumbled pulling her from her trance. It had been four days since she awoke to find herself in the small stone cell with, nothing to eat and only the condensation on the walls to drink. Not even a jail keeper to keep her company the girl was seriously considering the idea that every one, including her kidnapper, had forgotten her. It's not like she expected most people to care, there was no reason they should.

Amaya would care of course but, in her life the nicest thing most people did, was ignore her. She had gone from foster home to foster home. None of the homes were bad or horrible but, Sera never applied herself. She didn't think people would like her so she didn't try to be nice and because of that they usually didn't like her. One thing no one could explain though, was how nice she was to Amaya. The girls had a bond that even they couldn't even explain but, even thoughts of Amaya couldn't distract her from her current dilemma.

"Oh lovely" she whispered with mock cheerfulness, "I'm going to die here and no one gives a damn." _Oh great Sera, let's feel bad for yourself it'll make it all better. Shut up._

Another ...hour maybe, and the room was once again horribly quiet only the water dripping from the ceiling to keep the girl company.

"SHE'S THIS WAY!", shouted a male voice so annoying it could make anyone aggravated.

"Are you quite certain?" said the calm fluid voice of another boy. Sera was shocked, she couldn't believe her ears and slowly she rose as if she thought if she wasn't careful she might awake from this clever illusion.

"Of course, I'm sure Kurama" Kuwabara yelled "No one could keep me from my Yukina, we're bonded with the power of LUUUUV!!"

There was more talking most of it irritated as the boys argued about this and that but, Sera was no longer listening to what they said. Her hope for rescue was gone, yes it would be so easy for her to just call out and make herself known yet, she couldn't. The thought that no one cared enough to rescue her on purpose depressed her immensely and she just plopped back down on the floor and sighed. Not surprising though, your mind does strange things when deprived of food and human contact. She didn't even notice as the footsteps neared.

"Yukina, it would be advisable to step back." Came the calm boy's voice again. Still silent, she realized how disturbing the voice of the young man was. Yes, it was beautiful but, it gave her chills.

"SPIRIT GUN!" Came the yell of yet another voice and an explosion rocked the cell next to hers, destroying the door of the other cell and knocking a small hole in the side wall of hers. There were voices but, Sera didn't care to listen, footsteps faded down the halls yet, she didn't care to call out, all she did was stare at the hole in her cell, all she did was stare at her freedom.


	3. Well this is weird

It was once again silent and Sera slowly made her way to the opposite wall. The hole was just big enough for her to weasel herself through. Kneeling she peeped her head through the hole and then seeing that the passageway was empty she squeezed the rest of herself through.

One huge castle and one small girl led to some serious problems. Problem number one, Sera was lost. Problem number two none of her other problems mattered it she couldn't get out. So she did the most intelligent thing she could think of, she went the direction the footsteps disappeared.

There she found another problem. Every hallway looked the same, cold and bare, not a decoration to serve as a marker. A full five minutes of running later she was completely lost and had the strange feeling she was going in circles. Panting heavily, she stopped. Running was definitely not a bright idea for someone who stomach was on empty.

A second later she heard footsteps and she was tempted to stop and see if they could help her. _Hey sir, could you help me find my way out? Yes, Sera that would be a smart thing to ask your possible kidnapper._ She picked the nearest door and tried to open it. Of course, it was locked. So she went to the next one, with a shove, it reluctantly opened. Once inside she beheld what seemed to be some sort of dinning hall, lit only by a small window, with tables and a tapestry in each corner. Going to the closest corner she hid behind the tapestry and without a moment to spare, for as soon as she did, two young men and one small woman walked in the door way.

The first of the young men clad in all black, with a spiky black hair walked into the center of the room. Sera glanced over at his two companions, one a boy with gelled back hair that looked oddly familiar and the other a blue-haired girl in a full kimono. They looked strange to her but, not terribly dangerous.

"Come on Hiei, let's go." yelled the gelled-haired boy. Sera started to walk forward and stopped when 'Hiei' unsheathed a sword from under his cloak. _I'm thinking this isn't such a smart idea._ His eyes narrowed and he started to turn his head in the direction of her hiding place. She held her breath, closed her eyes and hoped he wouldn't notice her.

The ground under her quaked and she gasped.

"DETECTIVE!" yelled Hiei, instantly grabbing the teen's full attention. "Take Yukina and get her out of here." She opened her eyes and dared to peek around the curtain. He wasn't looking at her, he was looking at five horrible looking creatures that were revealing themselves from the shadows.

Stones began to crash from the ceiling and you could barely hear the other boy as he yelled. "I'm not leaving you here STUPID!" The smaller boy glanced behind him and disappeared. The sound of metal and stone clashing was heard and the doorway collapsed leaving the young man alone with five demons.

"GET HIM" yelled one and he was answered with a sword though his belly. With a cry he fell and by that cry the remaining four charged. One by one they fell to a flashing black blur that was apparently the boy in question.

Wide-eyed and petrified she could only stare as they fell to the man's blade. As the last was cut down, the floor shook once again and Hiei lost grip on his katana. In the confusion another demon appeared among the rubble behind the young man. With a grin he pulled a knife from the belt at his waist. All this time Sera could feel her heart speeding up and moving into her stomach as she realized she was about to watch someone be murdered by a creature that in all rights shouldn't exist. "BEHIND YOU!" she screamed but, it was too late. Hiei turned and the knife buried itself into his shoulder. He scooped up his blade only to fall. Her heart beat faster and her skin became warm, all fear left her as well as all thoughts. Small flames sparked from her hair and she ran in front of the boy eyes ablaze. The demon, completely stunned, barely put up a fight as she ripped the knife from his hand and plunged it into its foul heart. With an anguished cry it fell into a heap at her feet.

Sera came to, standing up, blood on her hands, a dead creature in front of her, an unconscious boy behind her and a castle falling apart around her. She couldn't just leave him hear. Adrenaline was still rushing through her system as she grabbed the boy by the shoulders and dragged him out of the room, managed to get him down a flight of stairs and out of the castle as one of the outer walls collapsed.

It was then she saw the outside of the castle was surrounded in forest she just barely to get the two of them beyond the cover of the edge of the trees before the wonderful adrenaline drug ran out. Shaking and feeling horrible she examined Hiei's wound. Slowly she pulled the knife from his shoulder and pressed her hands down on the wound until the sluggish flow of blood almost came to a stop from there she doctored it to the best of her ability. Then barely able to keep her eyes open she leaned against the nearest tree and fell into a dreamless sleep free of the horrors she saw that day,


	4. and they meet, well sort of

Hiei awoke but, didn't open his eyes. Hiei felt feverish as his demon blood burned the last remnants of the poison from his veins. He knew he should, get up, check in with the rekei tentei and go back to the human world but, frankly, moving at the moment, seemed like entirely too much effort. Besides, the breeze felt nice. _Breeze!? In a castle!? Not likely._

His eyes shot open and he sat straight up only to be greeted by a searing pain in his left shoulder. "Ugh" it wasn't unbearable just unexpected. Like the fact he was outside in a Makai forest instead of under a pile of rubble or the fact that his wound, he noticed as he put his hand to his shoulder was bandaged with strips of dark cloth. If he didn't' know better, he would think that the Fox was trying to mess with his head but, for some reason this kind of thing didn't quite fit Kurama's idea of deviousness.

Extending his senses he checked for any potential threats in the general vicinity. Astonishingly he found none. Other than the plant life there was only one living thing nearby. _A human_. His eyes narrowed this was getting a little to strange for comfort. He turned and sure enough not ten feet away was a small ningen girl. He almost growled, was she an illusion? A dream? Humans in Makai were rare but, humans this deep in a Makai forest, excluding the members of the rekei tentei, was a statistical impossibility.

She was asleep against, against a large oak; head resting against her chin her blonde hair covered her face. Her clothes were almost non-descript except, that the shirt she wore, he noticed, was far too short to be acceptable for a girl her age in ningen society. On closer inspection it looked as though it'd been ripped off and the fabric was identical to the fabric of his make-shift wrapping.

_This is curious._ Hiei walked up and quirked and eyebrow with that he unceremoniously put his foot upon her shoulder and knocked her over. "What! Huh! Where!" the girl exclaimed as she toppled to the ground. Hiei twitched slightly _Stupid ningens. Too damn jumpy._

"Girl, who are you?" he demanded and all he got was a bleary eyed look from the girl. She closed her eyes and shook her head a bit before answering.

"Sera" came an almost silent reply. Hiei examined the girl it was abnormal for a young ningen to be that unresponsive. Upon closer inspection he realized the girl looked sick but, by the way she was acting it seemed to be a recent lack of nutrition. Humans were like that. Deprive them of food and they're dead in days. It was an easily solved problem but, of course, not his problem.

The girl began to speak to him but, if he had wished to talk to the girl further at the moment he would have done so but, as she spoke something about her voice caught his attention and ……

"_BEHIND YOU!" screamed an unfamiliar female voice. Without the time to think he whipped around only to be greeted by a searing pain in his shoulder, a sixth demon was grinning at him from about ten feet away. Looking down he grimaced, the hilt of a knife was protruding from his left shoulder, while the blade was buried deep beneath his skin. Dodging the stones, that were now falling freely from the ceiling, he scooped up his Katana and prepared to attack._

"_What the…." Hiei's eyes slipped out of focus as he struggled just to stay on his feet. All of a sudden his Knees gave way causing the demon's smile to broaden as he pulled another knife from his sleeve and prepared to throw it at the weakened fire demon. From his angle all he could see was a pair of small black boots landing in front of him as he lost his hold on consciousness._

_**Why the hell was she in the Castle with Yukina? Who the hell is she? What the hell is she doing here?**_

A hand flashing in front of him brought him out of his musings. He grabbed the hand, eyes becoming hard and irritated and the mysterious girl choked back a yelp. His grip was tight and tears were beginning to form in the girl's eyes. Why did it seem she always pissed off all the wrong people?


End file.
